While diets can have many benefits, a study warns of the harms of the Keto diet or ketogenic diet.
Today there is a multitude of beneficial diets for our health. Studies have shown that the Norwegian diet would help reduce cholesterol or that the pescetarian diet would increase our longevity. However, it regularly happens that the stars put forward a new miracle diet.
That’s what happened with the ketogenic diet. Better known internationally as the Keto Diet, it is promoted as an effective and fast way to lose weight. However, a recent study suggests that it would have several negative effects on our body.
The study in question was published in March 2023 in the journal EurekaAlert following its presentation at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Cardiology.
What is the Keto Diet?
The Keto Diet is a diet that set aside the consumption of carbohydrates. Normally, these nutrients found in sweets, bread or pasta provide our body with energy. However, this diet makes them completely disappear.
When the body needs energy, it forces itself to break down fat. Carbohydrates are then replaced by ketones, elements produced by the liver. These become energy substitutes while drawing on the body’s fats.
Fact, the Keto diet bans many foods such as fruits, legumes, cereals or even bread. On the other hand, its followers can consume vegetables and foods rich in fats. They can therefore eat large quantities of fatty fish, meat, vegetable oils and avocado. But this overconsumption of good fats is harmful to the body.
A diet that would promote bad cholesterol and cardiovascular accidents
Researchers studied the impact of this fairly strict diet and other diets over almost 12 years. Of the 70,000 participating volunteers, only 305 people followed the Keto diet. However, they noticed that Keto followers had a bad cholesterol level much higher than that of the other participants.
At the end of the study, the researchers also determined the potential disease risks associated with each diet. The ketogenic diet would be one of the most dangerous on the vascular level. Indeed, the researchers estimate that the concerned double their risk of stroke, heart attack… And it can increase with other external factors such as medical history, physical inactivity or smoking.
Starting a ketogenic diet is therefore not discouraged as long as it remains temporary. In addition, the researchers invite all people wishing to test it to first consult a health professional.